On 8/1/07 02:21, in article
, "Farm1"
please@askifyouwannaknow wrote:

"Sacha" wrote in message

I used to have a book called The Untidy Gardener and the author
describes
asking someone to clean out the stables, saying she would be able to
use the
manure on her flower beds. Next thing she knew, he'd chucked it
straight
onto the beds from the stables and she was convinced all her plants
would be
damaged. She describes seeing them 'waving helplessly' from above
great
mounds of steaming manure. However, they survived, the winter and
the worms
did their work and all was well, though it's not a recommended
practice,
admittedly. And NB, these were flower beds, not veg beds.

I hope that the point of the story was that the author had learned how
to be a good gardener from that experience and that this lesson was
why she turned into an untidy gardener.

I think she was an untidy gardener to start with! And IIRC, her name is
Elizabeth Craigie but I'm stretching my memory back a long way.

I get an attack of the irritations every time I see advice about the
'need' to rot horse manure..I always wonder about whether the person
giving the advice has ever experiemented or is just parroting book
learning.

It doesn't need rotting at all, ever. It may need some judicious
thought about placement but it can go on some spot or other in the
garden straight from the end of the horse's alimentary canal. I know
because I've used it that fresh and never found any detrimental
effect. It may not look pretty and the well rotted stuff does look
prettier but with mulch on top, who cares or will even notice?

It's more important to rot down cow and chicken manure, AIUI but I think the
point of leaving horse manure in a heap is to allow weed seeds to be washed
out by the rain or to be taken out by the proud owner of the manure heap. I
think the horse's alimentary canal does a good job of preparing the manure
for use by the gardener.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/